Orthopedic boot or shoe



Oct. 1.0, 1933. A. LETTERMANN 1,930,355

ORTHOPEDIC BOOT OR SHOE Filed lay 27. 1951 4gb/wear v Patented om.'a 1o,1933 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-lcs O RTHOPEDIC BOOT 0E SHOE AdolfLettermann, Berlin, Germany Application 27, 1931, Serial No. 540,326,and in Germany May 28, 19 0 z claims. (ci. ia-nz) This inventionV'relates to the manufacture of orthopedic boots and shoes.

In my prior patent speciilcation No. 1,856,394 I have described anelastic pad for taking foot 5 impressions which impressions may be usedas permanent foot supports. Now I have discovered a method for makingorthopedic boots and shoes in which the said pad is firmly fastened andafterwards shaped according to the foot of the m wearer. v

For this purpose a flat elastic envelope having the outline of a humanfoot is filled with a mass which is solid at the temperature of thehuman body and melts at a temperature that can be u sustained by thehuman body, and then the envelope is closed, as described in my saidcopending. application. The pad thus .obtained is then,

fasfnedAn the desired position, in a boot or shoe during itsmanufactln'e. For instance, the pad 2 may be fastened above the innersole by sewing,

stickins, gluing or the like and may be overlaid.

if desired, with the usual covering. From an orthopedic point of view,however, it is preferable to use the pad as theinner covering sole ofthe ghootorshoe.

After the boot or shoe is nished, it is now,

before putting it on, treated in the following man-i ner:

Thepadinitspositioninthebootorshoeis a first heated to a temperatureabove blood heat,

forinstance,byinsertinganironinformofa shoemaker's last, or the wholeboot or shoe may be heated to a temperature above blood heat.

structed according to the present invention,

The mass in the envelope thereby becomes plastic without the boot orshoe being altered.- Now the boot or shoe is put on the foot and thestill plastic mass is shaped under the pressure of the foot whenwalking. V 00 The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawing inwhich a shoe made according to the invention `is shown in verticalcross-section. a is the shoe, b is the usual inner sole, and c is theenvelope filled with fusible material d. The eng5 velope c is fastenedto the inner sole b by sticking or sewing.

Every foot, whether healthy or ill, is supported in its naturalfunctions by a b oot orshoe con- 0f course, the fastening of the pad andthe heating of the mass contained therein may be effected in anysuitable way without departing from the scope of the present invention.

I claim:-

l. A boot or shoe having a ilxed inner sole consisting of a flat elasticenvelope filled with a mass which is solid at the temperature of thehuman body and melts at a temperature that can be sustained by the humanbody.

2. The method of manufactin-ing orthopedic boots or shoes whichcomprises fixing an elastic envelope filled with a mass, which is solidat the temperature of the human body and melts at a temperature that canbe sustained by the human 55 body, in a boot or shoe, melting the saidmass, and putting the boot or shoe on a human foot.

